Fitchburg State officers approved for city work

FITCHBURG -- The City Council Thursday night unanimously approved the appointment of 15 Fitchburg State University campus police officers as special officers of the city.

Police Chief Robert DeMoura explained to councilors that officers would largely be used for working details, but that when the Fitchburg Police Department calls on university police for their assistance in dealing with parties and other events near campus, the officers will no longer be effectively acting as citizens. He said there had always been a concern on both sides about calling them because of this, and that appointing them as special officers has been long overdue.

"Now if one of my officers says, 'John, grab him,' if he grabs him, he can effect the arrest," DeMoura said.

He said he also prefers to call on FSU officers over officers from other towns for details, because he knows more about how they're trained, whereas with others, he does not.

"I know for a fact how the Fitchburg State University officers are trained," DeMoura said. "Actually, we do all of their firearms training with our officers already. They're trained like we are. They know our rules and regulations."

Councilors Dolores Thibault-Munoz and Dean Tran expressed concerns about where liability would fall in the case of injury on the job.

DeMoura said that if an FSU officer is working a detail and becomes injured -- for instance, in the case of being struck by a car -- the liability falls with the officer's home department, as it would with any officer of any other department coming into the city.

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"If we, as a city, direct somebody to do something, it's on us, regardless if they're a Fitchburg State University officer or a civilian," he said.

DeMoura said the appointments made apply only to the officers currently sworn in, and if there are any personnel changes or new hires, those officers would also have to come before the council for approval.

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